Tom Paxton

Tom Paxton celebrating 50 years of international touring Photograph by Michael G. Stewart

Tom Paxton:
Lighthouse, Poole, 20th May 2015

Fifty years
after he first set foot on British soil, American folk legend Tom Paxton has
returned to these shores to bid a fond farewell to the UK fans who have
supported him and his music over the past half century.

True to
form he did it in style. I caught up with Paxton as he played Lighthouse in
Poole midway through his 17 show final UK tour.

He may have
decided that, at the age of 77, it’s time to kick off his travelling shoes and
take it just a little easier but he’s still a powerful and hugely entertaining
performer. He also has a formidable back catalogue and a whole bunch of
excellent new material to call on. Best of all the new stuff and particularly
the songs on his latest album Redemption Road is as sharp and relevant as anything he’s ever written.

Paxton’s
songs - laced with wit, conscience and
commitment in more or less equal measure - range from good-time singalongs to
tales of lost love, stirring peacenik anthems and heartfelt cries for us to
love and cherish not only each other but our poor abused planet too. All are
delivered from somewhere deep in his soul. You sense that though his idealism
has been tested down the years, Paxton is still essentially an optimist who
will never lose that twinkle in his eye.

With fine
accompanist Robin Bullock on second guitar and harmony vocals, Paxton was able
to deliver a fuller sound and perhaps more amply display his singer/songwriter
skills that have been honed over more than five decades of writing and
performing.

There were
of course the all time favourites -The
Last Thing On My Mind, Bottle Of Wine and Ramblin' Boy etc. - but there were also songs that begged big
contemporary questions like If the Poor Don’t Matter.

There was
emotional stuff too.My Lady’s A Wild
Dove, the song he wrote as a gift to his late wife Midge who died last year
after more than 50 years of marriage, brought tears to my eyes.

Different
emotions – pride, gratitude and admiration – were stirred by The Bravest, Paxton’s
moving tribute to the 343 New York fire fighters who lost their lives saving
others during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

He dug deep
into his past for fond memories and anecdotes about the burgeoning New York
folk scene back in the early sixties. He painted a colourful word-portrait of
the streets of Greenwich Village and characters that populated its bars and
folk clubs. People like the great Dave Van Ronk, Pete Seeger, the Clancy
Brothers and Tommy Makem and the briefly visiting Mississippi John Hurt . Those
golden days and the main protagonists were also the subject of wonderful Paxton
songs like TheMayor of MacDougal Street, Comedians and Angels and
Have You Seen John Hurt?

His stories
were vivid and gripping but I did find myself raising an eyebrow when he
started telling us that he didn’t really approve of nostalgia. But then, in
typical Tom Paxton style, he tempered his comments with the observation that
someone had once told him that looking at the past was absolutely fine….just as long as you don’t stare.
Brilliant! We’re all off the hook then.